Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 23:03:06 -0400 From: Jim Crotty Subject: HOW TO TALK AMERICAN Jim "the Mad Monk" Crotty has taken the standard format of your average slang book and turned it upside down, with plenty of digs to upset any provincial reviewer. Endorsed by no less an authority than William Safire (New York Times Magazine two different times in the summer of 97- thank God he didn't actually read it!). How To Talk American (Houghton Mifflin) has everything any phat bank new jack Lab-Schooled dirty-testing mainline flame-baiting bit-flipping byte-bonding aisle-gawking ghostbusting Scotty-searching mad spun greenlocked beach nourished tree-hugging gross playing earwigged butt- flossed boogered up brain farting hackalogical A-list Kinsey Six cherry-picking trash-talking dialed in multi-culti Beverly-adjacent hen-pecked high maintenance hardscrabble stage-diving crowd-surfing fully actualized externally validated plugged in hella cool nickle-diming bumfuzzled commonistic double stoked free ballin' aqua-booting nipple rashed cannonballing bear-spotting doughnut-popping Windy-bound cross-addicted bottom-hitting chopped up puked out interupt-driven idea hamster could ever EVER want to know about American vernacular. There are hundreds of fascinating terms in this book ("Kevork," "trustafarian," "Behind the Zion Curtain"), plus complete lexicons to regional banter, such as Bwostin ("the TS of a clown when there's no around"), Picksburgh ("quit jaggin' dat jumbo!") and New Yawk ("Hey, smatter wid you?"). But this is not only a groovy dictionary of slang, it is a compelling snapshot of America as seen through the eyes of a man who has lived eleven years on the road, meeting and greeting, obsessing and procrastinating, but, most of all, just regretting. A "tour de farce," says the Great Dolly Lama. "Pretty good," says Jim's mom. If you ever wanted the ideal Christmas gift, this book is it (it sure beats a pet rock...bigger too). And a signed copy is only $15 through Monk (includes p&h). Call 212-465-3231. Or write Mail Order Monk, 3288 21st Street, #173 San Francisco, CA 94110. (Check, Mastercard or Visa accepted)